The Rock of the Holy House (Dome of the Rock at Masjid al-Aqsa)

 

بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

وعلى آلك واصحابك يا سيدي يا نور الله

According to the Holy Torah, the Patriarch Abraham عليه السلام was to sacrifice his son Isaac عليه السلام upon a mountain in the region of Moriah (Genesis 22:2). Some Muslims argue that Moriah is in reality Marwah, a hill in Mecca mentioned in the Holy Quran:

اِنَّ الصَّفَا وَالۡمَرۡوَۃَ مِنۡ شَعَآئِرِ اللّٰہِ

Verily, al-Safa and al-Marwah are among the symbols of Allah

(Surah 2, Ayah 158)

However, the Bible identifies Mount Moriah as the site upon which the Temple of Solomon was constructed (2 Chronicles 3:1). The Foundation Stone upon the Temple Mount is traditionally believed to be the site upon which the Patriarch Abraham عليه السلام bound his son Isaac عليه السلام intending to sacrifice him, which in Islamic terminology is referred to as the Manhar, or place of sacrifice. It is also traditionally believed to be the location of the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was placed. Only the High Priest was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies once a year on Yom Kippur.

When Sayyiduna Umar رضى الله عنه arrived at Jerusalem, he consulted Ka’b al-Ahbar رضى الله عنه on where exactly he should offer prayers upon Masjid al-Aqsa (the Temple Mount):

عَنْ عُبَيْدِ بْنِ آدَمَ قَالَ

سَمِعْتُ عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ يَقُولُ لِكَعْبٍ أَيْنَ تُرَى أَنْ أُصَلِّيَ فَقَالَ ‌إِنْ ‌أَخَذْتَ ‌عَنِّي ‌صَلَّيْتَ ‌خَلْفَ ‌الصَّخْرَةِ ‌فَكَانَتِ ‌الْقُدْسُ ‌كُلُّهَا ‌بَيْنَ ‌يَدَيْكَ فَقَالَ عُمَرُ ضَاهَيْتَ الْيَهُودِيَّةَ لَا وَلَكِنْ أُصَلِّي حَيْثُ صَلَّى رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَتَقَدَّمَ إِلَى الْقِبْلَةِ فَصَلَّى ثُمَّ جَاءَ فَبَسَطَ رِدَاءَهُ فَكَنَسَ الْكُنَاسَةَ فِي رِدَائِهِ وَكَنَسَ النَّاسُ

Ubayd bin Adam narrated that he heard Umar bin al-Khattab say to Ka’b, “Where do you think I should pray?” He said, “If you take it from me, you will pray behind the Rock and all of Jerusalem will be before you.” Umar said, “You are imitating the Jews. No, but I will pray where the Apostle of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم prayed.” So he advanced toward the Qiblah and prayed. Then he came and spread out his cloak and swept the rubbish in his cloak and the people swept the rubbish (Musnad Ahmad, v.1, p.277, #261)

We Muslims believe the Holy Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم stepped foot, during the Isra, upon Masjid al-Aqsa, the Temple Mount, and offered his prayers in the area that is now covered by the silver domed Musalla al-Qibli or the Qibli Chapel. Sayyiduna Umar رضى الله عنه constructed a simple wooden structure on this area, which was renovated and improved upon by later Muslim rulers. As for the Rock, it is sacred to the Muslims because it was the original direction of prayer, or the Qiblah, which the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and the first Muslims رضى الله عنهم faced:

قَدْ كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أمِرَ ‌بِاسْتِقْبَالِ ‌الصَّخْرَةِ ‌مِنْ ‌بَيْتِ ‌الْمَقْدِسِ فَكَانَ بِمَكَّةَ يُصَلِّي بَيْنَ الرُّكْنَيْنِ فَتَكُونُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ الْكَعْبَةُ وَهُوَ مُسْتَقْبَلٌ صَخْرَةَ بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ فَلَمَّا هَاجَرَ إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ تَعَذَّر الجمعُ بَيْنَهُمَا فَأَمَرَهُ اللَّهُ بِالتَّوَجُّهِ إِلَى بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ

The Apostle of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم was commanded to face the Rock of the Holy House. So, in Mecca, he used to pray between the two corners, with the Ka’bah in front of him while he faced the Rock of the Holy House. When he migrated to Medina, it was impossible to combine the two, so Allah commanded him to face the Holy House (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

The great Imam al-Ghazzali رحمة الله عليه has also mentioned that it was precisely the Rock which was the original Qiblah:

وَقد كَانَ رَسُول الله صلى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسلم يسْتَقْبل ‌الصَّخْرَة ‌من ‌بَيت ‌الْمُقَدّس مُدَّة مقَامه بِمَكَّة وَهِي قبْلَة الْأَنْبِيَاء وَكَانَ يقف بَين الرُّكْنَيْنِ اليمانيين إِذْ كَانَ لَا يُؤثر استدبار الْكَعْبَة فَلَمَّا هَاجر إِلَى الْمَدِينَة لم يُمكن استقبالها إِلَّا باستدبار الْكَعْبَة

The Apostle of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم used to face the Rock of the Holy House during his stay in Mecca, which is the Qiblah of the Prophets. He used to stand between the two Yemeni corners, as he did not prefer to turn his back to the Ka’bah. When he migrated to Medina, it was not possible to face it except by turning his back to the Ka’bah (al-Wasit fil-Madhhab, v.2, p.58)

The Umayyad ruler Abd al-Malik bin Marwan constructed the beautiful Dome of the Rock. A confused Jewish writer, authoring a prophetic text in the name of Shimon ben Yochai, attributed the construction of the Dome of the Rock to Sayyiduna Umar رضى الله عنه, “The second king who will arise from Ishmael will be a friend of Israel. He will repair their breaches and (fix) the breaches of the Temple and shape Mt. Moriah and make the whole of it a level plain. He will build for himself there a place for prayer upon the site of the ‘foundation stone,’ as Scripture says: ‘and set your nest on the rock’ (Num 24:21). He will wage war with the children of Esau and slaughter their troops and capture a large number of them, and (eventually) he will die in peace and with great honor.” (Nistarot of R. Shimon b. Yohai)

Today, some misguided so-called Muslims are questioning the status of the Rock or Foundation Stone in Islam. It is part of a broader but evil trend of attempting to distance Islam from Jerusalem and Masjid al-Aqsa. This is especially true of the heretical Shi’ah, but also the so-called Ahmadiyyah or Qadianis, and the Hadith-rejecters. Recently, the Rafidi pig Ammar Naqshawani, in his eighth Muharram majlis for the year 2025/1447 titled “The Glorious Umayyads: Shaam to Jerusalem” said, “Bani Umayyah’s poison. You’ve seen in Palestine there’s this mosque with the big gold dome. This is all Umayyad nonsense this place.” This conspiracy to distance Islam and the Muslim from Jerusalem, and rejection of the Dome of the Rock as a sacred Islamic shrine is strongly backed by the Zionists.